Iowa,

Yes, I was thinking it would save a lot of money to return the car to the same country as rented. And the ticket is a round trip to/from Zurich.

I still think you should only have the car in villages in Switzerland and then again in Tuscany with train travel elsewhere. You're spending all that money, vacation time and effort to get to Europe then you're wasting a day driving out of the way just to return a car? At the very least find out what the additional charge would be to return it in a different country.

No need to return to Zurich to drop off the car. Drop it off in Geneva.

Sorry, I missed the part where you already have the plane tickets. :)


I'm just throwing out ideas here because I am in no means an expert in this area, but it seems like a LOT of back tracking, and thus wasted time, to deal with the car.

Can you drive in the Zurich area, return the car before you leave Switzerland, then take the train from that city to Venice. Rent another car when you're ready to leave Venice and drive towards Rome. Return the car when you get to Rome and take the train to Paris. This way there are no long drives to return a car to the right country, you don't have the car in the cities where you don't need it, and it gives the driver a rest.

Now, I don't know what the train routes are so this may be entirely impractical as well, but it's a possibility to look into.

The days without paying for the car, and also no fuel for those trips, will help offset the cost of the train tickets. When I was in Venice there was no need for a vehicle at all, and the same for Rome. Even staying outside of Rome I can't imagine wanting a vehicle to mess with.

I definitely agree with amwosu, before you plan such a long drive to return a car find out what the exact cost would be to return it in a different country. It might be expensive, but so is driving all day, especially when you have limited time.

As a guy who drove over 2000 miles in 20 days last year and 1200 miles in 16 days this year, I love the idea of driving throughout Europe.

(If you must fly in and out of Zurich) I would fly into Zurich and drive to Grindelwald (I think Bernese Oberland is much more beautiful and less touristy than Luzern). Spend 3 nights hiking around one of the most beautiful places in the world! Next drive to Venice (6 hours..that's about the longest you want to drive IMO); 2 nights in Venice is plenty; than drive to Tuscany and spend 3 nights there; drive to Rome spend 2 nights there return rental car. Fly Rome to London on British Airways one way flight (rather inexpensive check it out!). Spend 3 days in London (if you like hustle and bustle London has plenty of it!!) Fly or train to Paris for 3 days (Paris is the greatest!!!) Than train back to Zurich (if you must) for flight home.

Just a thought....

Click on my name above for trip reports.

Good luck!

Well, I take back my last response about not dropping the car in Geneva. I thought you could ditch it before Rome then get cheap flights Rome to Paris but for four adults in isn't cheap.

I'd drop one city (Venice?)and spend more quality time in each of the other cities(Paris and Rome)but I understand the desire to see lots of new places when they are "so close", relatively speaking.

$123 per person Rome to London on ba.com